This series evolved in an interesting way. When I began writing it, it was just going to be a lighthearted romp about a guy who switches bodies with a woman on Exchange Island and his two friends who try and fail to hit on him. I'd planned to end with cap #25, with Jeff, his friends, and Henry in bed together. Surprise! Jeff decided to sleep with Carlos and Reggie after all.

But when I came to part 25, I wasn't happy with it. It felt like too abrupt, too unsatisfying an ending. So I wrote this caption as a sort of twist ending, building on the idea that Exchange Island employees often will often use the body switching technology to switch bodies with each other. But that led to a new problem: I didn't feel like I'd adequately set up the idea that Jeff liked being a woman so much that he wanted to stay. Plus, this cap jarred with the tone of the rest of the series.

Around this time, I discovered that Kristen Bell has been in not one but two series about a woman who visits a tropical resort: Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Couples Retreat. Discovering Couples Retreat led me to develop the side plot with Brandon and Latisha, which allowed me to build more organically toward Jeff's decision to remain on Exchange Island. By giving Jeff some time away from Carlos and Reggie, I was able to show that he actually enjoyed being a woman when he wasn't fending off his friends' affections.

I don't know how well it all hangs together. I basically inserted a subplot into an existing story, and I did it at the last minute, after I'd already posted the first few parts of A Tropical Triangle to my blog. If the story feels disjointed at all, that's probably why.

3 comments:

The Stepford Transformation is a Master PC story, one that digs pretty deep into the concept of the Master PC. It uses images from the 2004 version of The Stepford Wives, with Nicole Kidman, and tells a story that in some ways draws from, but certainly doesn't retell, The Stepford Wives. I think it's going to be fun. :)